Friday, December 16, 2011

Backed up.

Written on December 14th 2011.

Yesterday I picked up my 20kg and my 24kg kettlebells and spent 15 minutes swinging and pressing. Then I got out the rollers and saddled up the road bike and punted out 15 minutes or so at a pretty high intensity. At least it felt like a pretty high intensity.

Today, I can feel it. Feel the pain in the stabilising muscles and in the hamstrings. That tells me I’m way out of shape. It’s not OK, but it’s ok. There are reasons I haven’t been exercising at my usual levels. I may never be able to again. All in all, I need to change the way I 'do' exercise. What remains is the fact that I feel better when I do a certain level and intensity of physical work. I am committed to the act and the results of training.

I was reflecting on the fact that for 2012 I have no goals. In an idle moment I was thinking of trying to enter the Trans Provence. Following that race this year was a thrill. With one thing and another, I couldn’t fit it in, and felt a tinge of disappointment about that as a couple of friends have had their entries confirmed. Not only would I like to do the thing, i'd like to do it with them. But, you know, I’ve been pretty lucky. Or maybe luck isn’t the right word – I’ve been pretty committed to riding in some amazing places over the years. No reason for that to change.

What really struck home was the number of places I have been that have featured in videos that are doing the rounds at the moment: Rossland, BC, Rotorua, NZ and even our own Ben A’an right here in Scotland. Yeah, it’s been ok. Just in case you have missed any, here are those videos.